


The Clone Who Saved Christmas

by Loriela



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra refuses to have a bonding experience, Christmas Special, Etheria's first christmas, Fluff, Hordak and Catra save christmas, Multi, Post-Canon, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28277184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loriela/pseuds/Loriela
Summary: It was the night before Christmas in the planet of Etheria. The first Christmas they would experience since they had been locked away in Despondos. Everything was set for this to be a perfect night... except for one little clone who was about to make a big mistake.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 67





	The Clone Who Saved Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I've spent way too long working on this, but it's finally out and right on time
> 
> So I wish you all a merry Christmas and a good read
> 
> (and yes, I'll go back to my other fics, I just needed a pallet cleanser)

_Twas the night before Christmas through the vastness of space and on each and every planet the people celebrated in their own special ways. Every planet except for one, for Etheria had been away for so long and in that time they had all forgotten the magic of this season._

_Tonight would be their first Christmas in over a thousand years and it would be a night to remember._

* * *

Hordak awoke to the sound of his alarms blaring. He had been woken up that same way so many times before and it took him a moment to remind himself of where he was. He was in bed with his wife, he was in his Beast Island Forward Base, and he was very much not in one of his brother’s ships.

“Is the giant crab monster back again?” Entrapta asked as she sat up. Her hair lazily reached for her data pad, so she could check on the base’s surroundings, “well this is interesting.”

“How so?” He pushed himself up to look over her shoulder. Something was flying towards Beast Island at extremely high speeds, “friend of ours?”

Entrapta seemed to think for a moment, “no IFF signal and no one else was scheduled to arrive today. Maybe a meteor?” 

Hordak sighed and dragged himself out of bed, “I’ll go handle that then. You go back to sleep.” He turned back and gave her a kiss on the cheek, just to feel Entrapta’s hair drag him back so she could give him a peck on the lips.

“Don’t have too much fun without me,” That was a promise Hordak could very easily make as he was certainly not planning on doing anything too exciting this late into the night. So he donned his powered exoskeleton, picked up his arm cannon and made his way outside.

It was a chilly night. Winter had hit Beast Island and the cold of the kingdom of snows had finally reached them. Still the island seemed resistant to the change, it pushed back against a year of hard work from him and Entrapta and now it pushed back against even the changing of the seasons and not a single sign of snow had reached them yet.

As he approached the cliff that overlooked their improvised port, he raised his arm up high and began to take aim. He wasn’t stupid enough to simply eyeball it with a weapon like that, and especially not against a target moving that fast, but with some simple calculations he had his cannon trained directly in the way of the object’s trajectory. Now all he had to do was hold still, count down and

Fire!

The red beam struck the object, causing a massive explosion in the night sky. Thankfully the base itself was isolated against sound - a defense against the island’s apathy signal - so Entrapta should still be sleeping soundly. With a job well done, Hordak allowed himself a little satisfied smirk.

That seemed to have been his fatal mistake, for it had somehow invited fate to come put him back in his damned place. It did so by placing whatever was left of that object in direct collision course with the port below him. He barely had any time to brace before the impact shook the island.

Whatever had just crashed on the island had somehow not only survived Hordak’s blast, but managed to course correct so it would make contact on land instead of water. Whatever it was it was more resilient, smaller, and faster than even one of Prime’s fighter ships, and Hordak needed to know what it was.

He rushed down to what remained of the port, leaping into the crater and pushing through the smoke of the crash. His exoskeleton could protect from the heat a little longer, right now his top priority was identifying whatever this flying object was.

And what he found there made no sense to him at all.

* * *

Catra didn’t like Beast Island. Partially because of all the terrifying stories people would tell of it back in the Horde, partially because of the terrifying stories Adora told of the place after they got together, but mostly because she hated the idea of spending several days locked in the same space as Hordak.

Unfortunately it was her turn to check on the island’s progress, and Adora insisted that a bonding experience with her former boss would be good for the both of them. Catra tried to argue that she absolutely did not want to bond with the man who tried to kill her on multiple occasions, but was reminded that all of her best friends have tried to kill her too.

Now here she was, waiting for her ship’s autopilot to finish docking and still considering if she should maybe just turn it around and go spend the weekend drinking with Sea Hawk.

No. She had promised Adora that she would at least try to be nice to him, and at least she had Entrapta with her there to make her time in the island a little bit less miserable. Hopefully.

“Catra!” Entrapta shouted as she ran up the ramp to greet her, “Ah!” Melog appeared from thin air and jumped on top of her to intercept, licking her face and happily purring as her hair began giving him pets.

“Good to see you too, Entrapta,” Catra replied, trying not to laugh at those two.

She didn’t have to try for long before she heard the heavy footsteps that she had grown so accustomed to avoiding. Hordak made his way up to them with his usual perfect posture, and perfectly controlled movement. Were it not for his now white hair, he would look exactly the same as he did before Prime caught him again.

“Force Cap-” He flinched at his own slip up “...Catra” 

It would be hard to tell which of them felt the most uncomfortable after a greeting like that, but Catra would certainly bet on herself here. Not wanting to show it though, she simply clicked her tongue, and continued like it had never happened, “So what do you two have to show for the last two months?”

Entrapta jumped up, her hair now cradling Melog as she loudly replied, “we never showed you around the base!” She dropped Melog, and each of her ponytails launched forward to grab at the both of them, “come on, let’s give her a tour!”

And with that she was dragged around the most dangerous place in all of Etheria, but with the way Entrapta talked about it, it almost sounded like a resort. The island hadn’t changed much since Bow’s last report, it had a port and a well defended base of operations, but pushing any further into the corrupted jungle proved to be more difficult than anticipated.

According to Hordak they managed to push another 10ft into island territory. The small number didn’t seem to dissuade either of them. Entrapta sounded so proud and happy with their progress, and that seemed to make Hordak happy too. Ugh, and she thought Bow looked disgustingly lovestruck when he looked at Glimmer.

It was strange. This place was meant to be their prison, a punishment for all the bad things they had done to Etheria - a punishment that Catra narrowly avoided - and yet they seemed happy with it, like there was nowhere else that they’d rather be. Catra was disgusted by how inspiring that felt.

“I think that’s all I needed to see,” Catra commented, already turning on her heels, “so I should probably get going”

“What!?” Entrapta exclaimed, jumping in front of her, “you’re not staying for dinner?”

“Yeah, that sounds lovely and all, but I think I’d rather spend the night somewhere a little less deadly,” ‘and somewhere far away from your creepy boyfriend’, that part went unsaid.

“Come on. We haven’t talked in almost a year,” her feet lifted off the ground as her hair began carrying her weight, “even Perfuma messages me every once in awhile”

Entrapta had a lot of bad memories attached to her, and Hordak had even more of those, and she really didn’t want to confront those memories right now. She tried stepping around Entrapta, but Melog got in the way, looking up at her with his big soft eyes.

“Fine,” she sighed, “I guess I can stay a little-” Entrapta’s hair pulled her into a tight Scorpia-like hug “-longer.”

* * *

Staying for dinner turned into staying the night, and after many long, and awkward hours, Catra was finally afforded the sweet release of the guest room. Even as she collapsed onto the bed she knew that sleep wouldn’t find her any time soon. So after tossing and turning in bed for what felt like hours, Catra decided to go for a night time walk around the base.

In many ways it reminded her of her time in the Fright Zone. The filtered air, the cold metal, the electric lights, and automated doors. It felt familiar, not like home - she wasn’t sure any place ever felt like that to her - but still gave her an odd sense of familiarity. It was kinda messed up that those were the kinds of things she associated with her childhood.

She closed her eyes and could still see her there. The only thing that ever felt like home. Blue eyes, golden hair and a bright smile, those too were things she associated with her childhood. Maybe she wasn’t as messed up as she-

Her train of thought was cut short by the base’s alarms blaring on full blast. Crap, did she set something off? She quickly made her way back to her room, but as she was about to take the last turn Melog pulled her back and covered her with his illusion magic.

Hordak walked past her, looking extremely annoyed as he finished strapping a massive canon to his arm. Did she step close to his Sanctum or something? That felt excessive. She prepared to book it as soon as he was far enough away not to hear her, but as he got to the end of the corridor, instead of turning left to where Catra had wandered, he turned right towards the exit. 

She wasn’t sure what was happening now, but she should probably get back to her room, and try to get back to sleep. A loud sigh escaped her as she realized that that was absolutely not what she was going to do now.

* * *

Hordak wondered if perhaps the smoke was hallucinogenic. That seemed to be the most plausible explanation as to why there was a sleigh in the middle of this crater, and why there was an old man, dressed in all red, stepping out of it.

The man shook his head a couple of times before stretching a little, pushing his back back into place with a loud grunt.

“Much better,” he muttered to himself, before turning to look at the state of his own transport, “now that is gonna need some work”

Hordak slowly and carefully approached him. If he wasn’t a hallucination, then this man was certainly a lot more powerful than he looked. Just as he raised a hand to touch the man’s shoulder, he turned around and shot Hordak a bright smile.

“Ah there you are, young man.” He greeted, “say could you help me move my ship somewhere else, so I can work on it?”

“What?” Hordak asked, befuddled. The man’s mannerisms only made Hordak more and more confused.

“I’m sure that exoskeleton of yours can hold a little extra weight,” He tapped the metal plates on Hordak’s arms, before making his way out of the crater and up the cliff, “come now, I’m on a bit of a tight schedule”

Hordak looked up at the man in utter confusion. Unsure of where to even begin with this whole bizarre situation, he asked the first question that came to mind, “who are you?”

“Why I’m Santa Claus, of course!” The man replied with a chuckle, as if that name alone would clear things out.

“Who?”

“Ah I see old Prime didn’t bother teaching you about the holidays,” Santa commented, “he never liked me much anyway. Used to get past his defences every year just to drop a lump of coal by his throne. I guess he took it personal.” He chuckled to himself.

That was more information to process than Hordak was willing to this late at night, so he was very grateful when he was - once more - saved by his wife.

“Hordak!” She called as she made her way down the cliff, completely running past Santa, before stopping herself and turning around, “hi, hello, who are you?”

“Young man, would like to introduce us?” Santa asked, seeming to be endlessly amused by this situation.

“This man was piloting the object our radars detected,” Hordak sighed, “his name is Santa Claus.”

She peeked behind Hordak, at the sleigh resting in the middle of the smoking crater “Is that…” She stopped, frowning for a moment as she tried to process all the information she just got, “Oh! Santa Claus!”

“The one and only!” The man cheerfully replied.

“You know of him?” The more this night went on, the more confused Hordak felt.

“Yes!” She jumped towards Santa, her hair spinning them both around as she giggled excitedly, “he is mentioned in First Ones’ texts. A legendary magical being who traverses the universe bringing gifts and joy to every planet! I thought he was just a legend”

“I guess that’s a reasonable thing to think after a thousand years, but now I’m back and ready to bring-” Santa’s words were interrupted by a rough coughing fit.

Hordak stepped forward, reaching to hold this strange man. That was odd, when had that become his first instinct?

“Sorry, this old body isn’t used to rough landings like that anymore,” Santa offered them a weak smile, “like I was saying. I’m finally back, and ready to bring joy to Etheria once again.” He looked back at the crater, “once I get my old sleigh up and running again.”

“Hordak, we have to help him!” She jumped towards him, her hair holding her up to eye level.

“What?”

“I mean, we trashed his sleigh, didn’t we? We should at least try to fix it,” She was right, of course, taking responsibility for their actions was exactly why they have accepted this fate of spending their whole lives trying to help Etheria, “and besides, think of all the data we can gather.” That was also a great motivator.

He smiled and nodded, walking up to the sleigh and lifting it up with one arm “Let’s take it to the workshop.”

* * *

“How does it look?” Hordak asked as he finished soldering up some First One’s scrap to the sleigh.

“Well,” Entrapta smiled at him, “it’s not perfect.”

Hordak smiled back at her in a way that made Catra want to vomit.

She had been spying on them for almost an hour now, trying to figure out who this weird old man was, and why they were helping him like that. Melog said he looked familiar, but that didn’t exactly tell her much, besides that he was super old and had weird magic.

Entrapta rambled on and on about faster than light travel, and some list, and extra dimensional space, and a whole bunch of other things she didn’t really get. Hordak on the other hand seemed to have retained his favorite hobby of grunting and frowning at everything, only actually saying anything when Entrapta prompted him to.

“Now all we have to do is get our hands on an adequate power source and we should be all ready to save Christmas.” Entrapta declared. Catra could almost be excited for her, if she understood what any of this gibberish was about.

“Not to worry,” the old weirdo replied, getting up from his chair just to lose his strength and have to sit back down again, “my reindeers still have enough magic to take us around Etheria, and then back home. Now I just need to call them.” The man took a deep breath, brought his fingers to his mouth, and let out the loudest whistle Catra had ever heard. Leaving her ears in extreme pain.

Yet nothing seemed to respond to his call, “well that’s odd,” the man commented before taking a deep breath and preparing to make that same horrible noise a second time.

“No!” Catra shouted, grabbing his arm. “Don’t.” She commanded, looking him straight in the eye.

“Well, hello there, young lady,” the man greeted, seemingly unbothered by her forcefulness, “sorry about the loud noises. I’ll try to keep it down.”

She let go of him, before turning to the wonder couple, “who is the weirdo?”

“His name is Santa Claus, and he’s a magical being who is going to bring gifts to all the people of Etheria.” Entrapta replied, poking her head out from under the sleigh. “Once we get his ship up and running again.”

“I’m sorry, he’s going to what!?”

“It’s part of this celebration called Christmas,” Hordak explained, “the ancient etherians partook in it before they were sealed in Despondos. It apparently involved exchanging gifts and the spreading of...joy.” Even with his solid red eyes, Catra could tell that he was rolling them.

“So he 's like... She-ra’s weird uncle?” Super powerful magical person from the dawn of time who is really into making other people happy. They had to be related, right?

That earned a loud hearty laugh from Santa, followed by an equally as loud coughing fit. “Oh, I wish. I’m just a big fan of her work!”

“And you two are helping him because…?”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Hordak simply replied. Catra did not buy it.

“Since when do you care about that?” She taunted as she walked up to him. That’s when she noticed a familiar scorch mark on the side of the ship, “oh I see. So you screwed up again, and now you feel responsible for fixing the mess you started”

They stared each other down for a moment, all it would take was the wrong comment for the both of them to be back to how things were before Prime captured them, just two angry assholes ready to start a fight. Thankfully they weren’t alone in the room.

“Also this data is amazing!” Entrapta jumped between them, her hair pulled Catra close so she could read her pad. “This may be the most advanced piece of tech I ever got my hands on. The wonders I could make with this. It could even help clean Beast Island within the next year.”

“And he uses all that to give people gifts?” Unimpressed wouldn’t begin to describe her tone. That was easily the biggest waste of resources she ever heard of.

“You’d be surprised by the amount of good a few gifts can do.” Santa calmly replied, “a quick reminder to the people of the universe that they’re loved, that their good deeds aren’t all for nothing.”

Catra didn’t want to admit how hard that hit her. The thought of her younger self actually receiving some form of affection from anyone other than Adora… She shook her head, trying to drag herself back to the present.

“Now back to that power source problem.” Entrapta interrupted again.

“Ah yes. It seems my good reindeers may have been spooked away from the island.” He scratched his beard and pondered. “If only we could find another magical creature powerful enough to power the sleigh. Then I could do my deliveries tonight, and worry about my dear reindeers in the morning.”

Melog meowed, sending a message only Catra could understand, “ _Help him._ ”

“What!? Why?” She yelped.

Melog didn’t have to reply, all he had to do was stare at her. He was inside her head, and he knew what was crossing her mind. Would this have been enough to keep her from screwing up back then? Probably not, but it would have made her childhood even the slightest bit more tolerable. Maybe there was some kid out there that needed that, a sign that someone in this stupid universe still cared about them.

“Ugh fine!” Catra groaned, “Melog and I can help you power the sleigh.” She muttered, half heartedly.

"Ho, Ho!" Santa gave a hearty laugh as he jumped up from his seat, “you and me, young lady. We’re going to-”

A coughing fit interrupted him, “We’re going to-” He stumbled forward, strands of purple hair catching him before he hit the floor.

“You okay there?” Entrapta asked, gently placing him back on his seat.

“I’m doing wonderful,” He tried to appear cheerful, but they could all see the cold sweat on his forehead, “Never felt better.”

With that hollow reassurance Entrapta met him with worried eyes. He sighed, “perhaps I’m not in the best condition to work.”

“Oh well,” Catra loudly commented as she shrugged, “looks like Christmas is gonna have to wait another year. Now if you need me, I’ll be back in my room.”

Great, she didn’t have to go into some stupid adventure anymore. It was a freaking Christmas miracle.

“I will take your place then,” Hordak offered, without a hint of hesitation.

“Excuse me?” She wasn’t sure she heard that right. 

“I’ll fly the sleigh, and deliver gifts throughout Etheria while you stay here and recover,” He explained, completely confident in his plan.

“No, no, no!” Catra interrupted, “I refuse! I am not gonna spend the whole night just flying around with Hordie boy here on some stupid mission to go save Christmas.”

* * *

Catra looked so stupid in that outfit. Santa insisted that this ‘uniform’ was meant to help them withstand the insane speeds the sleigh could reach, but she couldn’t understand how a pointy hat, jingly bells and weird shoes could help in any way. Green was also not her color.

She wished the door back to the workshop wasn’t automated, just so she could slam it open. Walking into the room like this didn’t quite portray her indignation at being dragged into this mess.

“This Christmas thing better be worth this.”

“Believe me, young lady,” Santa replied, “all that work will be worth it once you see the joy you’ve brought to the world.”

“I’m not worried about the work. I’m worried about people seeing this!” She gestured towards her current getup.

Santa laughed, “it could be worse, dear.”

As if on cue, the door to the workshop opened again as Hordak walked into the room. Catra could not contain her laughter, nearly doubling over at the sight of her former boss.

His coat was all red and fuzzy, with some white fluffy bits just to make sure it contrasted even harder with Hordak’s usual aesthetic. She had never seen him wearing pants before, but it was clear that he was hating every second of it. And this lovely look was all brought together by the silly little hat on top of his head.

“You look like an idiot!” She exclaimed, still laughing at the absurdity.

He was fuming at that comment, but seemed to control himself enough to reply, “have you seen yourself?”

“Oh, I look like a clown,” she agreed, “but you managed to look even worse!”

“Ahem!” Entrapta interrupted loudly as her hair dropped her in between the two of them, “I have finished the modifications to the list, and bag.” 

She handed each of them a data pad and a small handbag, “your pads are connected to the same pocket reality as Santa’s bag. All you have to do is select a name on the list, and your bag will expel the appropriate gift.”

“Sounds simple enough,” Catra added, scrolling through the list on the pad, “wait! How many people are we gifting?”

“The entire population of Etheria.” Entrapta stopped to think for a second, “so just a few hundred thousand.”

“And we have to do that before morning!?” There was no way they could do that in a month, let alone a single night.

“It’s a lot easier once you get in the flow of things,” Santa assured her, earning him a long groan.

Hordak on the other hand seemed undaunted by the task at hand, or was at least a little better at not complaining about it, “and the guidance system?”

“Already done calculating your route,” she replied with a smile.

“Then we should be all set to go.” He turned to leave, but Entrapta’s hair spun him around.

“Wait!” Her hair dipped him, and she gave him a quick kiss, “for good luck.”

“Can we please get going before I vomit?” Catra complained, her disgust making Melog’s mane turn a sickly green.

“Yes!” Hordak agreed, his face looking as red as his coat, “of course!”

He cleared his throat and joined her in the sleigh.

“All ready, Melog?” Entrapta asked.

His spectral mane changed back to its normal blue as he gave her a quick nod, before allowing her to place a harness on him. With some magical flare, he grew in size and his shape slowly changed until he assumed the form of a large reindeer.

“Show off,” Catra joked. 

Hordak didn’t seem amused, “if you’re quite done, we only have a few more hours until dawn.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re done.” Catra rolled her eyes and leaned back on her seat. She expected Hordak to literally take the reins and set them on course, but he seemed to still be working on his data pad, “are we going or-”

The sleigh rose vertically a few feet. She could barely hear Entrapta shouting, “Good luck,” before they were rocketed off into the night sky.

Islands flew under them like a blur as even the moons seemed to struggle to keep up with them. Catra thought Darla was fast, but this was terrifying. Even more so, considering there were no walls, no doors, and nothing keeping her attached to her seat besides her own claws. As they finally reached mainland the sleigh slowed down considerably, and she finally managed to release the breath she had been holding.

“Where are we?” She asked, her grip still firm on her seat.

“Salineas,” he replied, looking grimly at the ruined gate in the distance.

“Already!? It hasn’t even been a minute!”

“This ship was made to cross every planet in the known universe within the span of 24 hours,” he explained, “I’m surprised we didn’t arrive here faster.”

Suddenly their task felt surprisingly more...possible. Now they only had to stop by every household in Salineas, sneak in, drop their gifts, and then fly to the next kingdom before- Nevermind, it still felt impossible.

* * *

_And yet the pair tried. From rooftop to rooftop they made their journey through Salineas. From the dens of pirates, to its great castle, every person in the kingdom of the seas received their first Christmas gifts._

_For Mermista they left the complete Mermisteries collection._

_For Sea Hawk they left the fanciest mustache wax in the world._

_And for Admiral Scurvy they left a lump of coal, which amused Catra to no end._

_And the pair continued their journey, through Dryll, and Plumeria, through the Fright Zone, and the Crimson Wastes, through Mystacor, and the Kingdom of Snows, making sure every person in every house got their perfect gift._

_For Perfuma they got a beautiful zen garden. For Scorpia a little scorpion plushie to replace the one she lost. For Huntara a new spear. For Frosta a little toy of her original character._

_Soon enough the night approached its end and only one last kingdom still stood ungifted._

* * *

Hordak hated to admit it, but he felt thrilled. Until now helping others had been something he had done out of a sense of obligation, a way of making up for all the damage he had done, but now he found joy in it. He also made a mental note to never hint at that near Catra, for she would never let him forget this, and the ridiculous clothes were already enough fuel for her mockery.

“Hahaha!” Catra cackled as she hopped back on the sleigh, only the sleigh’s dampening field kept her from being heard, “can you imagine what that kid is gonna be like when he wakes up? He’s gonna see that plastic tiara, and be all ‘mom! mom! I’m She-ra!’”

Or perhaps she would understand him.

She leaned back on her seat and pulled out her data pad, “so what is left?”

“All of Castle Bright Moon, and the adjacent town,” he explained.

“And we have less than an hour,” she stopped to think for a moment, “we’ll have to split up to cover more ground. You can take Melog with you if you want, I don’t need magic to sneak in there.”

Impressive as always, “your strategic mind continues to be… reliable.”

“Still can’t give a compliment to save your life, can you?” She teased.

He groaned. She was right, of course, but he could go without that being thrown at his face. Still he was in a good mood, so he did try to put some effort, “you are… clever, and I appreciate your aid in this ordeal.”

Catra seemed to find his attempt hilarious, for she started loudly laughing at him.

“I take back everything I said,” he complained, pulling out his data pad so they could get going already.

In but a few moments Castle Bright Moon came into view. Strange, how after years of waging war with them, this was only his second time standing before their capital. The first was as a war criminal, put on trial for the decades of terror he had brought upon this world. Now he returned carrying gifts, and kindness for all of them. He was sure the queen would find such an idea hilarious.

“You ready?” Catra asked as the sleigh slowly landed. A nod from him was the only reply she needed, “meet you at the castle once we’re done”

With that they parted ways. 

With Melog’s aid, Hordak made quick work of his list. He entered undetected into each household, tapped the corresponding name on his pad and placed the gift by their bedside, before making his way to the next house. After hours of this repeated pattern he had turned gift giving into a science, and soon enough he found himself before the steps of the castle.

Melog seemed eager to return here, this had been his home for just about a year now, but Hordak…Hordak wasn’t sure how he felt. For years he dreamed of walking up these steps and finally taking over the last bastion of rebellion in this world. Now being here felt like a reminder of the awful things he had done in the name of his brother.

This wouldn’t fix things. Giving them all gifts wouldn’t undo the damage he had done. Healing Beast Island wouldn’t undo the damage he had done. He wasn’t sure there was anything he could do that could ever heal the world he had broken.

But this wasn’t about him or his ‘redemption’, this was about them, it was about bringing them joy.

And so he made his way up the steps, because he had promised to save Christmas. He was once the leader of the Horde, and he wouldn’t let something as foolish as his conflicted feelings get in the way of his mission.

* * *

Sneaking around Bright Moon had become way too easy for Catra. After months here she had already memorized all the best routes and hiding spots, so those had been the easiest gift deliveries she had done all night.

Soon she walked the castle walls as she planned her delivery route. Unfortunately Hordak had ended up with Adora on his list, so she wouldn’t get to be the one to give her a gift. It was probably for the best, she couldn’t risk her seeing her like this. The problem now is that she would have to risk Sparkles catching her, and she knew she would never let her live this down.

Thankfully the queen was a heavy sleeper, and Catra had plenty of experience sneaking past her. So after a few well practiced jumps, she landed on Glimmer’s balcony, and calmly made her way inside. She was unsurprised to find that Bow shared a bed with the queen, but she still let out a quiet groan at the fact that everyone around her had decided to pick today to be all lovey dovey. Ugh, she was gonna get sick.

Bow shifted in his sleep, and Catra was quickly reminded that she didn’t have dampening magic around her anymore. She had to get her mind back in the game, and get going already. With a few taps on her data pad she brought up his gift, an advanced engineering tool kit from some alien planet, and placed it by his side of the bed.

She began to pull up Glimmer’s gift when she was struck by a curious thought.

Sparkles had been one of the few people who really got Catra, mostly because she had done the same kinds of terrible things, but managed to pull back just the same. She had, in a way, inspired her to try to be a better person, so it made her think what this universal ‘nice’ list had to say about her.

She tapped a button by the queen’s name and soon a whole history of her deeds over the past year were brought up. Nearly destroying the world, but then helping save it. Hurting her friends and loved ones, but then fighting to protect them. In the end things evened out, plenty of good and plenty of bad, still she was in the Nice list.

Catra reached into her bag - there were only a couple of gifts left so she could just grab them - and pulled out a portrait of young Sparkles with her family. She wanted to laugh at how silly she looked a little baby princess, but everything else was too sweet, and besides she couldn’t risk waking them up.

She gently placed the portrait by her bedside and left the way she came. It was only when she was far and away from the castle that she finally pulled her pad and began looking for her name. If Glimmer had ended up in the Nice list after all that, then maybe she had that same luck, maybe there was a gift for her still in the bag.

With a few taps she brought her name and the extensive list of good, bad and worse things she had done. She wasn’t proud of many of those things, but this wasn’t the first nor last time that she would be made to confront all of that. Finally she reached the end of her profile, where her final verdict was listed.

Yeah, that seemed about right.

* * *

With that he had given gifts to every last guard and servant at the castle, now all he had to do was find Adora and his list would be done. He was thankful that Melog was with him to guide their way through the many rooms and corridors of the castle. The magical cat seemed excited to finally be able to return to his bed after a long and exhausting night out.

Melog pushed into the room and jumped onto the bed. Hordak ran after him, trying to catch him before he gave them both away, but the bed appeared empty and there was no one there to feel the impact of the cat’s landing.

“Huh?” A voice called from the balcony.

Adora walked back into her room, looking around for the source of the noise she just heard. Hordak froze in complete silence, thankful that Melog’s illusion magic kept him hidden, as she made her way to her bed. A playful smile formed in her face as she seemed to understand what had happened.

She jumped into the bed and caught the invisible cat in her arms, “got you!”

Melog wrestled with her for a bit, but as soon as she began scratching at him he simply laid back down and allowed her to continue.

“What are you doing here, Melog?” She asked as she petted the cat “Shouldn’t you be with Catra?”

Hordak’s breath caught in his throat as he watched Melog drop his spell, and sprawled himself over Adora’s lap. He turned around to leave before she could realize he was there, but it was too late.

“Hordak!?” He expected anger, that she would capture him, and drag him to trial for leaving Beast Island, but there was only surprise in her voice “What are you doing here? Wait! Why are you dressed like that?”

“I-” The reminder of his foolish clothes did not help him focus on the current problem. It took him a moment to recover his composure enough to explain himself, “I’m… helping someone.”

“What? Couldn’t you help them from Beast Island?” She looked reasonably confused, “if anyone catches you walking around here you’re screwed.”

“I’m aware of the risk,” he replied, “had it been an option, I would have stayed asleep at home.”

“So you dressed up like a weird red clown, escaped Beast Island, invaded Bright Moon Castle, and my room, just so you could help someone?” 

“Yes,” there was nothing he could do now, but say the truth and hope for the best.

“Oh wow,” she replied, sounding genuinely impressed, “what did they need?”

“What?” Now it was his turn to be confused, “you’ll simply accept my word?”

“Well, Melog wouldn’t be helping you otherwise, right?” She shrugged, “besides I trust that you’re actually trying to be a better person.”

His fists clenched and his ears dropped. Adora didn’t know how hard those last words had hit him, but he was not going to let her know, “I’m… grateful for your trust”

She smiled at him in a way that made very clear that she understood. It seemed that her many years dealing with Catra had trained her on how to read those who weren’t as emotionally open as her.

“So what did they need?” She asked again.

He sighed, tension escaping him as he leaned back against the door, “I’m supposed to deliver gifts throughout Etheria. Yours is the last one...”

“Oh, gifts?” She giggled and offered him an awkward smile, “I mean, I definitely got used to getting those after that whole deal with Prime. Yeah, it’s totally normal for me now. So, uh, what was the gift?”

He tapped her name in his data pad, and a large book appeared in his hand.

“It appears to be a travel guide to the known universe” He explained as he handed it to her.

There was a glow in her eyes as she took the book, “thank you! I was planning on travelling with Catra soon.”

Without warning, she pulled him into a hug. “I did not choose this gift. I simply delivered it.”

“You still risked a lot to come deliver it,” she argued as she tightened the hug, “and you went out of your way to help someone. You deserve some thanks, I think”

Hesitantly he returned the hug, “thank you”

She finally let go of him and smiled, “come on, let’s get you out of here before the others wake up.”

* * *

Catra leaned back on the sleigh, absentmindedly tossing a piece of coal from one hand to another as she waited for Hordak to return. The stars still shone their last light in the sky, before the light of day would drown them all away. She would never get used to this.

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” Adora’s voice asked beside her.

“Yeah,” Catra agreed as she leaned closer to Adora on reflex.

“Wait, Adora!?” She jumped up from her seat, her voice cracking as she screamed.

Adora giggled and snorted at the sight of Catra’s festive outfit. Catra crossed her arms, trying to appear more serious, but the sound of the jingling bells on her clothes only made her look more ridiculous.

“Ugh what are you even doing here?” She asked, her face burning.

“I was stargazing when I heard Melog jump onto our bed,” She answered, “Hordak was just standing there when it happened, but he explained everything.”

“Hordak!” Catra yelled. The man approached the sleigh, with Melog alongside him, he was still far away, but she was pretty sure the bastard was smiling.

“Didn’t want me finding out you’re actually a good person?” Adora joked.

“How dare you?” Catra joked back, playfully nudging her. 

“I’ll have you know, I was on the Naughty List!” She proudly declared.

“Oh no,” Adora played along, “looks like She-ra will have to catch you again.”

She jumped towards Catra, catching her in a tight hug.

“Ahem,” Hordak cleared his throat.

“What do you want?” Catra asked, still firmly in Adora’s arms.

“We should be on our way.” He answered

“Do we really have to?” She could just turn back, go to bed with Adora, and be done with this.

“Unless you want me to fly all your things, your ship, and Melog back here tomorrow” He listed off, unamused, “yes, yes we have to.”

“I mean if that’s an option.”

“Catra!” Adora let go of her and crossed her arms.

“What? He was the one who offered it!'' Catra joked, but Adora wasn’t finding it funny. 

“Aww come on, babe,” she tried, but she continued to stare directly into her soul, until she finally gave up, “fine! I’ll fly with him...”

Adora dropped the stare and gave her a soft smile, “Good.”

She leaned in close and gave her a quick kiss, “see you back home tonight?”

“Yeah,” She agreed and kissed her again.

“Ugh,” Hordak complained as he took his seat on the sleigh.

“You don’t get to talk,” Catra mocked, taking her own seat.

“See you soon!” Adora waved at them as the sleigh began to lift off, “I love you!”

With that they were flying over Etheria once more. The light of dawn began slowly pushing its way through the horizon as the moons lined up above them. Tired as she was, Catra couldn’t help but feel happy with all that she did tonight. The thought of all these people waking up to find the gifts she left for them, it brought a smile to her face.

“You certainly seem to have enjoyed yourself,” Hordak mused.

Only then did she realize that she had been smiling this whole time, “yeah? What about it?”

Hordak smiled, but before he could answer she interrupted.

“I swear, if you try to turn this into a bonding moment or something, I’m pushing you off the sleigh!” She threatened.

He stopped to look at her for a moment, before his smile returned, “of course. I would never think of that.”

Catra leaned back again as she watched the stars fade from the sky. Without much thought, she pulled out that old lump of coal, and began fidgeting with it again.

“Is that…” Hordak began to ask, but stopped himself.

“Is that what?”

“...your gift?” He finished.

Catra looked confused for a moment, before she realized what she had been doing with her hands this whole time, “yeah, once you got Adora’s gift there was only coal left in the bag.”

Hordak’s expression quickly shifted. Disappointment, annoyance, worry - aww, was he thinking about Entrapta’s gift? - He pulled out his bag and shoved his hand inside, trying to find a sign of anything else in there. When he pulled it out, he held a neatly wrapped package.

As he began to unwrap it, his face morphed from confusion and curiosity, to complete unamusement.

“What is it?” Catra asked.

“Blue hair dye.”

Catra couldn’t stop the laughter that escaped her, she laughed so hard she almost ran out of breath.

“Are you quite done?” He asked, still not entertained in the slightest.

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied, wiping a single tear from her eye, “I’m good”

“You said there was only coal left,” he accused.

“And you believed it,” she replied, with a shit eating grin, “I was just messing with some lump that broke off from that huge block we left in the Wastes.”

“Of course you were,” he groaned, “what did you end up getting?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” 

“It is something relating to Adora, is it not?” He guessed.

Catra blushed and sputtered, “what!? No!”

“Sure...” He said, not buying it for a second. “...of course not.”

Groaning, she crossed her arms, and looked away, “it was a book with old pictures of us as kids.”

“That’s…” He paused, trying to decide what word to use, “sweet.” 

That was definitely a weird word to hear coming out of his mouth.

“Yeah,” She agreed, “I guess you’re right.”

She turned around to look at him, just to see a soft smile on his face, “ugh! What did I tell you about bonding?”

He chuckled a little, but did not respond.

Soon Beast Island would come up on the horizon, and they would both finally get some rest. They had brought gifts, and joy to all the people of Etheria, they had saved Christmas, and now they would get to enjoy the best gift of all, a good night of sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this mess and want more quality SPOP content go check out [shera-dnd.tumblr.com](https://shera-dnd.tumblr.com/)


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